Dell announced on Thursday that its second quarter earnings had dropped 51 percent from the previous quarter, blaming the figure on slower sales growth.

The world's largest personal-computer maker announced that its net profit had fallen from $1.02 billion last year to $502 million this year within the same period. Its earnings also fell 46 percent from $0.44 to $0.22 per share this year. Sales however rose 5 percent to $14.1 billion.

Dell Inc., the world's largest personal-computer maker, said second-quarter profit slumped after it slashed prices to encourage sales. The company said the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its financial reporting.

Kevin Rollins, the Chief Executive Officer, blamed '˜aggressive pricing' for reduced profit as the firm struggles to compete in a market where price reduction has cut into the company's operating margin. To compound the situation, the Texas-based firm has been criticised for its poor customer services and its failure to incorporate Advanced Micro Devices chips (AMD) into its computers.

U.S. shipments for Dell rose 6.4 percent in the three months which ended in June, while its rivals' shipments including rival Hewlett-Packard rose more than 15 percent, according to Framingham, Massachusetts-based researcher IDC.

Recently the firm was also in the spotlight for initiating the biggest consumer electronic recall involving laptop batteries manufactured by Sony that could pose a fire hazard.

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